


limitations of the human body

by immolationfox



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish Has No Chill, Gansey is only at the beginning, M/M, POV Ronan Lynch, Post-The Raven Boys, Pre-Relationship, Pre-The Dream Thieves, Ronan Lynch Calls Adam By His Last Name Fifty Percent Of The Time, Ronan Lynch Has No Chill, Ronan Lynch Swears, Ronan Lynch is Bad at Feelings, Ronan: Aggressively Caring For His Friends By Bullying Them Into Letting Him, Sick Character, Sick Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28050927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immolationfox/pseuds/immolationfox
Summary: "Shit, Parrish," Ronan swore, turning after Adam. His hand shot out to grab the door when Adam tried to slam it shut and pushed it open enough for him to lean down and stick his head in the car. "You're freezing."
Relationships: Ronan Lynch & Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 19
Kudos: 107





	limitations of the human body

**Author's Note:**

> happy clearing out drafts day. you get 2 fics from me in one day

Adam looked miserable. Adam never looked miserable, not at school. He looked paler than normal and his brows were drawn together as he frowned at the contents of his backpack. Had he forgotten something? Had something happened with his parents? Fucks sake, if it was his father-

"Ronan!"

Ronan snapped his head around to stare at Gansey. Belatedly, he realized he should have been listening to him talk about- whatever it was he was supposed to be listening to.

Gansey looked disappointed.

"Were you even listening to me?"

"Uh- no," Ronan said, and looked at Adam again. He looked back at Gansey. "I'll meet you at Nino's."

Gansey blinked.

"What?"

"Nino's," Ronan said, turning Gansey around bodily and shoving him off the sidewalk. "Go. Meet you there."

Ronan was striding towards Adam without waiting to see if Gansey was going or not. He threw himself down next to Adam on the bench and said,

"You look like shit, Parrish."

Adam spared him a glance, but did not stop looking miserable or frowning at his backpack. Ronan sat up instead of slumping and nudged Adam with his shoulder.

"Let me drive you home."

_Don’t make me say please._

Adam sighed.

“Fine.”

The single syllable was hardly more than a whisper. Ronan got to his feet and held out a hand for Adam expectantly. Adam stared at it for long enough that Ronan was starting to think he wasn’t capable of standing, but then he grabbed his hand. Adam’s hand was cold and it shook a little. Ronan pulled. Adam stood up. He rubbed blearily at his eyes with one hand, the one not holding Ronan’s still. Ronan jerked away, jammed his hands in his pockets.

“I’m over here.”

Adam trailed after him, hands wrapped around the straps of his backpack, and he still didn’t say anything. Ronan wished he would say anything. It didn’t even have to be a word. This still, quiet, miserable Adam wasn’t something he enjoyed. 

The Pig was missing from the parking space beside the BMW. Gansey must have really gone. Ronan was glad he’d actually listened for once. Adam would hate for Gansey to see him like this. Ronan paused contemplatively by the passenger door. He wished Parrish would just skip school if he really felt this shitty. It wouldn’t kill his academic career. Belatedly, he realized he was blocking Adam’s way to the car.

“Shit, sorry,” he said, yanking the door open and pushing Adam towards the door. The back of Parrish’s neck prickled with goosebumps where Ronan brushed against him and Ronan didn’t miss the shudder of a shiver that ran down Adam’s spine as he climbed inside the BMW.

"Shit, Parrish," Ronan swore, turning after Adam. His hand shot out to grab the door when Adam tried to slam it shut and pushed it open enough for him to lean down and stick his head in the car. "You're freezing."

Adam wouldn't meet his eyes and stayed silent. Ronan stepped back, slamming the door shut, then dug around in the backseat before withdrawing a hoodie.

He stomped around the car and climbed in, slamming the door behind him. He chucked the hoodie at Adam with more force than strictly necessary. 

"Put it on, dipshit," he said flatly, staring across the console at Adam, daring him to refuse. Finally, finally Adam lifted his head and met Ronan’s eyes, staring him down. Parrish’s eyes were glassy in a way that uncomfortably reminded Ronan of when Adam would come to school after his father put his hands on him. Ronan resisted the urge to put his hands on Adam’s face and feel for a fever. He resisted the urge to check him over for injuries. Parrish would tell them - no he wouldn’t.

Adam pulled the hoodie over his head. Ronan watched as another shuddering shiver wracked his body and he curled into the warmth of it. 

“That settles it,” Ronan announced. He reached across Adam to buckle him in, because the idiot was so out of it he hadn’t even buckled up when he got in the car, and then Ronan threw the car in reverse and careened out of the Aglionby parking lot. He went to the store first, parking haphazardly near the front of the parking lot and threw the car into park. He turned to face Parrish, who was definitely sulking now.

“Hey,” Ronan snapped. Adam looked at him. “Stay in the fucking car.”

Ronan stormed inside. He had no idea what sick people needed. He didn’t get sick. He tried to remember what Matthew liked when he got sick. How did Matthew even get sick..? He threw cans of soup in the cart, set a bunch of bananas in much more gently, and tossed a couple boxes of cold and flu pills in. He careened through the store on his way to check-out, before realizing Parrish needed fluids, and dumped several bottles of Gatorade in the cart. He would force feed Parrish if he had to. He wouldn’t let Parrish work himself into a coma because of his pride. Let him blow up at him when he could actually speak again. Ronan would risk his wrath.

Adam Parrish was definitely seething by the time Ronan returned to the still running car, throwing the bags of supplies in the back. Ronan got in the car and slammed the door. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, then twisted in his seat to look at Parrish. If looks could kill, Parrish would be attempting murder. Ronan should get him to turn that death stare on his teachers. Ronan crossed his arms when Adam still didn’t say anything.

“You know, Parrish,” Ronan began derisively, “I’m not going to have a silent argument with you. I’d be much more impressed with your death glare if you were included some of those scathing remarks you're so fond of.”

Parrish was incredibly easy to goad, despite his best efforts. He opened his mouth.

“Get fucked,” he ground out. It sounded nothing like Parrish. Ronan couldn’t decide if it was the congestion or the hoarseness of his throat that shocked him more. It sounded like he’d been coughing all night. It sounded like he’d lost his voice.

“Jesus fucking shit, Adam,” Ronan said at last, leaning across to press his palm to Adam’s forehead and almost immediately snatched his hand back from the heat. “Listen, Parrish, I don’t care how angry you are at me. But you’ll have to wait until after you get your voice back to fight with me. Now drink some fucking juice and take this.”

Ronan threw one of the Gatorade bottles at him and one of the boxes of cold medicine. Adam fumbled with them both and sat there staring for a long moment. He shot a look at Ronan.

“Do you want me to tell Gansey,” Ronan said, his last and dirtiest attempt to get Parrish to listen. Adam stilled. His fingers drummed furiously on the plastic bottle. Then he ripped the box open.

Ronan wanted to gloat. He put the car in drive instead and took Adam back to St. Agnes. For all the glaring Ronan received, he might as well have been frogmarching Adam to his execution line. All he did was make sure Adam went inside and got in bed. 

“And you’re not going to work, dipshit,” Ronan snapped when Adam started to say something. Ronan kicked Adam’s backpack out of reach. “Go the fuck to sleep.”

Ronan shuffled around Adam’s apartment noisily, putting soup in random cabinets. He should heat some for when Adam work up. He should have made him eat a banana in the car. Parrish hadn’t taken that medicine with food and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to or not. Ronan let the cabinet door swing shut noisily. He opened it and let it swing shut again. He looked at Parrish. 

Adam was curled into his blankets, buried under them as much as he could be buried under two blankets. There was a crease in his forehead. Ronan shoved his fists in his pockets. Abruptly, he turned on his heel. Then he turned again and dug through Adam’s stuff as quietly as he could, looking for another blanket. He found a thermal blanket with two rips in hit, but it did the job, and he piled it on Adam. He did not touch Parrish’s face again.

He pulled his phone from his backpack and - grudgingly, he couldn't believe he was making a phone call for Parrish - called Boyd’s and then the factory to tell them Adam wouldn’t be coming into work. Ronan would deal with that backlash too, but only when Adam could actually talk. He opened a can of soup and dumped it into a bowl and stuck it in the microwave. He checked when Adam could take more medicine. He sat on the floor next to Parrish’s mattress, put on his headphones, and tipped his head back against the wall. He wouldn’t leave until Parrish had eaten, drank more Gatorade, and taken more medicine. And made sure Parrish didn’t try to go to work anyway.

He ignored Gansey’s texts. 

It was close to seven pm when Adam woke. Ronan wordlessly gave him a now chilled Gatorade bottle. He turned the microwave on and while the soup heated, he opened a banana and gave Parrish half. Ronan shoved the other half in his mouth and dumped more cold pills into his palm. Adam leaned against the wall, blankets dragged over his shoulders. Ronan took him the soup and the medicine. Parrish didn’t waste energy trying to fight back. After he finished the soup, Adam passed the bowl back to Ronan and laid back down. 

Ronan looked at his phone. He had more texts from Gansey. He, Noah, and Blue were all at Nino’s. Ronan looked at Adam. He was sleeping again. He wanted to make sure Parrish slept through the night, but he’d already pissed Adam off enough. He didn’t need to baby him. Parrish was plenty capable of taking care of himself, but sometimes Ronan figured he forgot he was allowed the luxury of sleeping. 

Ronan turned off all the lights and made for the door. He paused, glancing back at Adam. Ronan swallowed hard and jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. He left, locking the door and closing it gently behind him. He hoped the soup would last him long enough. He wished he’d written down when Parrish had taken medicine. He climbed inside the BMW and slammed the door. He opened the door so he could slam it again, and wished Parrish had a phone so he could text Parrish what time he needed to take medicine. Ronan turned his phone off and tossed it into the floorboard. He was starving. Gansey better have pizza waiting.


End file.
